In modern vehicles, it is customary to provide a plurality of airbags. So as not to tarnish the visual appearance of the vehicle interior, airbag systems are frequently provided on the side of the respective trim part which faces away from the observer. Because enormous forces act both on the interior trim part and on the airbag system itself in the event the airbag is triggered, the airbag system must be securely fastened to the interior trim part. This prevents, among other things, the airbag system from being blasted off the interior trim part, for example.
Prior systems, for example, would screw the airbag system to the interior trim part. To withstand the forces that arise, both the screws and the threads must be made of metal. The problem, however, is that since interior trim parts are generally made of plastic material, at least one of the connecting elements must be integrated into the plastic material of the interior trim part.
DE 10 160 185 B4 discloses an interior trim part and a method for the production thereof in which an insertion element is integrated into the interior trim part during an injection molding process. The insertion element comprises a thread to which an airbag system can later be fastened.
DE 10 2014 006 070 A1 discloses an airbag system made of plastic material that is connected to an interior trim part made of the same plastic material, for example, using an ultrasonic or infrared welding method. This system includes various drawbacks, however. For example, this method can only be carried out on the finished interior trim part. The high heat input, however, has a particularly disadvantageous effect on the decorative elements that have already been applied. The high heat input regularly causes marks on the visible side of the interior trim part, which result in damage of the part.
Furthermore, these welding methods require the plastic material of the airbag system and of the interior trim part to be partially melted in regions to establish a connection between the two components. This partial melting, however, inevitably changes the properties of the plastic material, with the possibility of drastically lowering in particular the mechanical load-bearing capacity of the plastic material.